photo
caption:SAN DIEGO'S MOST WELL KNOWN
ANCHORMAN: Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) poses heroically and self
importantly before his television station's helicopter. end
caption.

Will
Ferrell Falls Flat as Seventies TV "Anchorman"

Review by Kam Williams

There was a time, not very long
ago, when many people, present company included, considered Will
Ferrell the kiss of death for a picture. The Saturday Night
Live (SNL) alum's resumé is littered with embarrassing
outings like A Night at the Roxbury, Dick, Superstar,
Drowning Mona, The Ladies Man, Boat Trip,
Zoolander, The Suburbans, The Thin Pink Line,
and Men Seeking Women, four of which landed on this critic's
Annual 10 Worst List.

In 2003, Ferrell's fortune changed
with the release of Old School and Elf, two of the funniest
films of the year. He followed those hits with an uncredited appearance
in the successful screen adaptation of Starsky & Hutch.

Unfortunately,
Anchorman, set in San Diego in the 70s, represents a regression
for the television comic. Will assumes the title role of Ron Burgundy,
the self-absorbed anchorman on the highest-rated news team in
the city. Christina Applegate, best known for her 10-year run
as Kelly Bundy on TV's Married ... with Children, co-stars
as Veronica Corningstone, the ambitious, new addition to the reporting
team who threatens to upset the all-male network's apple cart.

The
film marks the debut of Adam McKay as director, who served as
SNL's head writer from 1997 through 2001. McKay and Ferrell collaborated
on the script, an infantile exercise in lowbrow humor, which reflects
the present state of gross-out humor more than any sensibilities
associated with the 70s.

Many men certainly resisted the
attempt by women to break through the glass ceiling, but somehow
I doubt that the resistance came in such a crude form. When not
clumsily propositioning the attractive newcomer or making lewd
comments about her anatomy, Burgundy is given to hurling sophomoric
insults at her.

Anchorman comes off as a rudderless,
overextended improvised skit that is somehow allowed to stretch
on for an unbearable 90 minutes.

The jokes in this over-the-top
comedy are mostly of the misogynistic, ethnic, and flatulence
variety. The plot is driven by a romance rendered unconvincing
by the insults spewed in the direction of the object of the hero¹s
affection. The insufferable Burgundy is such a ridiculous character
that one is reduced to either cackling or cringing at the offensive
caricature.

Ostensibly modeled on the egomaniacal Ted Baxter
of the old Mary Tyler Moore TV series, this adventure's
protagonist is less comical, less endearing, and generally grates
on the nerves.

Anchorman isn't saved by the presence
of a talented cast which features Fred Willard and cameos by Vince
Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Luke Wilson, Tim Robbins, and
Stephen Root. You know you're in trouble, when the film's biggest
laugh is a non-sequitor about President Bush which comes during
the closing credits.